Veteran comeback kid Lee Hyun-Il sealed victory as South Korea downed badminton giants China Tuesday to take gold in a thrilling five-match men's team final. China's world champion Chen Long fell to a storming performance by Son Wan-Ho in the opening match of an intense five-hour battle, which ended with South Korea winning 3-2. But it was former Asian Games men's team gold medallist Lee, 34, who closed the deal after being brought out of retirement to bolster the team's singles.
He took down Gao Huan, 10 years his junior, in the fifth match decider, striding to a 2-0 win before his team-mates ran onto court bundling on top of him and throwing him in the air in celebration. Lee has repeatedly retired from the game only to be brought back for team events. His last retirement was following the 2012 Olympics where he lost to Chen for bronze. Tuesday was his second Asian Games gold after helping the men's team to victory in 2002 - the last time the team took top spot.
Medal table Tuesday's Asian Games medals table (Gold, silver, bronze, total):
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China 40 22 20 82
South Korea 19 19 21 59
Japan 16 22 22 60
Kazakhstan 4 4 10 18
North Korea 3 4 7 14
Mongolia 3 3 6 12
Malaysia 2 2 2 6
Taiwan 2 1 5 8
Myanmar 2 0 0 2
Vietnam 1 2 9 12
Iran 1 2 1 4
Kuwait 1 2 0 3
Hong Kong 1 1 9 11
India 1 1 9 11
Thailand 1 0 5 6
Indonesia 0 3 2 5
Macau 0 3 0 3
Uzbekistan 0 1 6 7
Singapore 0 1 5 6
Turkmenistan 0 1 2 3
Laos 0 1 1 2
Philippines 0 1 1 2
Lebanon 0 1 0 1
Iraq 0 0 1 1
Pakistan 0 0 1 1
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